pancan

Oh yeah, the Spanish lessons continue. I'm doin' a helluva job.

An older woman's been coming through the park with who I assume are her grandkids, a girl and a boy. She is selling this bakery item I like which is bread filled with cheese, jalepenos and ham.

She is a riot. Wide-bodied with short gray hair and not too many teeth, she wants to chat which is a wee bit difficult given our language barriers. The first time I bought from her she kept saying "pancan" and I looked to her grandson for help but that was a no-go. Then she said "calabaza", pause, "pancan". She wouldn't give up and we were getting nowhere. Finally I see Jose trimming bushes and even though he doesn't speak english I have to do something so I shout out "Jose, que es calabaza?" Grandma's pretty sure this is going to work but we feel a bit dejected when we see Jose walk away. However, he rapidly returns with Raphael who shouts out "pumpkin". Pancan! You know how relieved you feel, how you can finally go to sleep or move on with your day when you remember old what's-his-face who was in that whatchamacallit movie? That was the feeling. Pancan. I think she was telling me that she'll be having some calabaza-filled pastries when they're in season.

The next time Grandma (abuela) came by she told me that she likes Tecate Lite beer. She drinks 6. Tecata roja is too filling which she demonstrates by rubbing her tummy and looking all sluggish. She also likes "boodwiser". I can't believe that I couldn't pick 'Budweiser' out of that but I needed her grandson's help. She made spitting noises when she described Coors. I agreed that it tasted like rat piss and her grandson seemed to understand that phrasing pretty well.

The other day she was in a hurry, people were waiting in the car, so as she was leaving she shouted out "pancan" and I responded "calabaza" which also means fool or idiot which I hope she didn't think I was calling her but maybe that's what she's been calling me all along.

My most successful lessons are when the words are written down. I had to buy a disposable razor and through some handy-dandy miming I was able to acquire the right thing and not lotion which is what the clerk first thought I wanted. So far my spanish dictionaries are pretty useless when it comes to things like this. In my dictionary razor is "navaja de afeitar". Nuh-uh, not here. The clerk said it's "rastrillo" ("rastrilio" in spanish is "rake" which sort of fits). Anyway, I am happy to report that a lot of english words are as difficult for the Mexicans to say as spanish is for me. We wrote down our respective words on the back of my shopping list and the clerk had a hard time wrapping her tongue around "razor" while I suffered with that middle "r" in "rastrillo".

Two new spanish words. I'm making great headway in this foreign language learning. I think this week I'll make an effort to go to Jorge's with paper and pen and sit with Edgar and the bartender while we learn new words. Edgar's favorite expression is "okie dokie". I'll try to add to his repertoire, nothing obscene, although 'fuck a duck' is just dying to come out.